Winter's Twilight
by Darktiger2
Summary: Sequel to 'Winter's Eve'. OneShot. Everything is okay now, right? Wrong. When things start to go from okay to bad and then to worse, what will Leo do? Better than it sounds.


Hey guys!

Just as this title infers, this is a sequel to Winter's Eve. I suppose you all should thank a certain author, (coughLeoOnealcough), for this. She sort of 'spurred' me on to write this. Thanks!

Oh, and **Leo Oneal**, I'll write back a little later. Sorry to keep you waiting and all, but I wrote this cool, long e-mail, then instead of sending it, the computer deleted it. Imagine that! And right now, my life is hectic so I can't write. Sorry…

Anyways, this may answer a few things you all have been wondering about. Oh, and no, I never read or found any book or folklore with Death portrayed that way…Death as a young woman yes, but never this way. But hey, I like Death this way. A kind old man…

Right. Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.

Notes:

This takes place a month after Winter's Eve.

Oh, and **Leo Oneal**, no, this doesn't exactly run according to your idea. So there may be twists and stuff you may not like, but hey, I like it! (grins) THANK YOU THOUGH!

Oh, note: Read WINTER'S EVE before this, otherwise YOU WILL NOT GET THIS!

WARNING: CHARACTERS MAY BE OUT OF CHARACTER!

* * *

_Winter's Twilight_

_Silence whirls around falling snow,_

_Freezing breaths taken for life,_

_What once was, plagues the soul,_

_Bringing tears of pain,_

_Cries are heard by only darkness,_

_Teary eyes turned towards the heavens,_

_The sun sets, the light fades,_

_Only silent tears remain,_

_Silent questions plague the mind,_

_Some of pain and some of death,_

_Wondering whether the path one chose,_

_Is the path to take at all,_

_And as the twilight begins to fade,_

_Everything is slowly made clear,_

_Silence loudly echoes as pasts are revealed,_

_And in the end, the past fades._

_By: ME!_

_(and like all of my poems, you have to read to get)_

* * *

"Show me the shadow where true meaning lies…So much more dismay in empty eyes…"

Leo sang quietly as he laid on his bed. Another favorite. _Exodus_ by Evanescence. Songs like these helped him deal with his feelings. And lord, did he need help! Sure, it was one month after he spent two long months out in the cold, being homeless, but life was anything but peaceful.

But after all, what should he expect? Miracles take time. Pain like this does not disappear in an instant.

But he should be thanking God or anyone who listened, because his brothers no longer blamed each other. Only now, they blamed themselves.

Leo sighed as he sat up in bed, wincing as he heard the door slam outside of his room. He buried his head in his hands. Raph was going out again. He did that so many times now.

Sometimes, he wondered if things would have been better if they had stayed the way they were. Sure, it was a hard life out on the streets, but maybe…

Leo shook his head and stood up. Quietly he stood up and left his room, heading for the living room. There, he sat down on the couch and waited, there, in the dark.

Don and Mikey were coping better than Raph, though. They weren't perfect, though. Sometimes, when he would check them at night, he would find Don fiddling with some invention, trying to keep his mind off of the present, and Mikey would be listening to his walkman or reading comics, trying to escape.

Leo sighed as he lay down on the couch, turning to stare at the dark ceiling. Everyone had his or her own way of mourning. But what his brothers were doing wasn't healthy. He, himself, never really had a time to actually mourn. _Really_ mourn. When they buried Splinter, he had cried, but it was only for a short time. Then, he was of to comfort his brothers.

Guilt welled up inside of him as he thought that. After all Splinter had done for him, he had not even mourned for him.

Leo sat up again, his hands clenched into fists. Deep anger welled up inside of him and he jerked a fist up to punch the couch pillow, but stopped. The anger evaporated quickly, leaving an empty feeling. He wanted it all to end. He was tired of trying to pick his brothers up. He was tired of trying to fix everything. What happened happened. He just wanted everyone to know this, accept it, and then move on. Yes, Splinter was dead, but all of them have to die sometime. It was inevitable.

At that, Leo winced. That sounded cruel and cold…but it was true. He loved Splinter and all, but death wasn't the end of the world. Life goes on. It doesn't stop just because of this.

* * *

January. The coldest and cruelest of the year. But since the blizzards and snowstorms New York had been having since November, January looked like a calm and peaceful month.

Snow lazily drifted down in small little flakes for the first time in months. But snow, no matter how big or small, was enough in New York. The whole city was covered with three-foot deep snow. Traffic was still down, no buses or cars or taxies ran. Airports were currently down as well. People didn't go out unless it was absolutely necessary.

The only person outside was a figure wearing a big brown coat, currently trudging on top of the roofs. Two twin tails from the red bandanna drifted in the lazy breeze.

Raph growled in anger as he kicked a heap of snow on the ground. He hated this. He hated going home knowing Splinter wouldn't be there; he hated going home and seeing Leo… Every time he looked at his elder brother he remembered how much they messed up last time…How, in the end, their elder brother, whom never ever gave up, just left because he didn't know what to do anymore. Then spent the last two months wandering around homeless, living off of garbage from garbage cans. And while they were all living in homes with food and a roof above their heads, surrounded by friends who cared, their elder brother wandered the streets, starving and alone.

Raph snorted before plopping down in the snow, shivering as he did so. Kicking the snow again in anger, he wondered why. Why did Splinter have to die? Where they really so horrible that Leo had to go? And why didn't he seek shelter?

Even though he had asked himself those questions so many times, he knew the answers. Splinter died because it was time. Something Leo always told them was inevitable. But it didn't sound real until now. And they were more than horrible. The fights between them had gotten physical more often than not. And Leo usually took more hits than they because he would always try to intervene. Sometimes, in anger, he, himself, being the usual hothead, turned on Leo, just in a moments in pulse. So instead of beating the practice dummy up, he beat up Leo. Of course, Leo fought back, defending himself, but after a while he just gave up, letting Raph beat him up. And Leo never sought shelter, because he _couldn't._ Unlike his brothers, Leo didn't get out often, preferring to stay in the shadows rather than to meet others. And those he knew were those his brothers knew and stayed with. And it wouldn't have been such a good idea if he had burst in where his brothers stayed.

Raph shook his head to clear it. He hated thinking it, because in the end it all went down to nobody being the blame. But he wanted, no _needed_ to blame someone. He just needed to know that maybe if things were different, some things wouldn't have happened. It was comforting in a way…

Raph growled again as he reached into his coat pocket and drew out a small needle and a small bottle. Quickly filling the needle with the content in the bottle, he bit his lip and then jammed the needle into his arm.

* * *

He was back here again. Something that wasn't supposed to be. Everyone he had needed to take, he had already taken. And those that deserved a second chance received one. So why was he here?

Ah.

He saw why.

Over there, on the roof, in the snow. It was hard not to recognize who it was. The younger brother of whom he had spared.

A glint of a needle.

So that is why he was here. One last job to do.

So sad really. That sibling's elder brother was in for more hurt. Maybe he shouldn't have spared him? Mortals can only take so much of pain…

He sighed and reached into his coat pocket, drawing out a small cake…

* * *

Leo woke up to the sound of the door slamming. Groggily he realized that he had fallen asleep on the couch…again.

Glancing at the digits on the VCR, he quickly made out the time to be 7:38 am.

Sitting up, he watched Raph hang up his coat quickly but tiredly, before starting to drag his feet towards the stairs.

"Where were you Raph?"

Raph froze.

Leo sighed and waited. They had gone through this so many times. Almost every night in fact.

"Fuck off Leo."

He sighed again. Same old Raph. Same old answer. "You can't keep doing this. It's not healthy to be outside all the time. If you need help, I'll listen—"

Same exact words, said the same way.

"Maybe I don't wanna talk."

And received the same old answer.

Raph, without turning around to look at Leo, disappeared up the stairs. Leo watched him go with sad eyes, before turning around and staring at the blank tv. Raph was always avoiding him. Never looking at him. And it wasn't just Raph who did that…

If they couldn't handle even the slightest task of looking at him, then why did they want him back?

* * *

_Silence. The whole city was filled with it. Despite what it meant, it was so very loud. The only thing breaking it was the steady crunching of snow under his feet._

_It was so cold. His feet hurt from the cold. Sometimes they bled as well from it. But he didn't care. This pain was nothing compared to the emotional one._

_No one cared._

_No one bothered to look outside their windows and see him. Sometimes he wandered to the homes of his brothers, and stood under their windows just staring…and remembering. It was amazing how one thing could change everything so. If he had died, then they wouldn't have torn up so. Master Splinter would have kept them together. So why was he unable to keep them together like Master Splinter would've?_

_Maybe he just wasn't good enough. _

_And with that, he would turn around and walk on. They never looked out of their windows. They just went on with their lives as if he had never existed._

_Amazing. When your homeless, people really do look past you. You just don't exist anymore._

_He closed his eyes, wrapping his coat tighter around his freezing body. The wind was blowing so very hard; carrying snow into his face, and freezing him._

"_Think twice…it's another day for you and me in paradise…oh think twice…it's another day for you…you and me in paradise…" He sang quietly, mournfully. Just another favorite: Phil Collins' 'Another Day in Paradise'. _

"…_It's just another day…"_

_

* * *

_

Leo shot up in bed. Looking around, breathing hard, he remembered where he was. Closing his eyes in relief, he sank back down onto his bed. Another day, another memory.

Every night he'd dream of his life on the streets. Some were good, some were bad. And some were just plain depressing like tonight's.

Turning his head, he checked the small digital clock beside his bed. The red digits flashed, showing 2:35 am.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight, he sat up again. There was no use checking his brothers. He already knew what he'd see. Raph would be gone. Out again on his runs. Don would be asleep on his desk, next to something he'd been working on. Mikey would be curled up in front of the tv, which would still be on.

He got up anyways, and walked out of his room, intent on maybe finding something to do. But most likely he'd end up stealing a book from Don and then reading that.

Stepping out into the hallway, he stopped in surprise to see Raph curled up in front of his door, fast asleep.

Sighing, Leo stepped back into his room before emerging again with a blanket. He gently laid it on his brother before moving around him and heading towards the kitchen. He didn't take him back to his room because Raph was…well…heavy. Even though Leo did many of the katas, Raph did the more heavy weight stuff, stuff to make more muscle. And because of that, he couldn't carry him. Not now. When there was danger, maybe, but definitely not now.

* * *

Raph woke up bleary. He couldn't remember what had happened after he took some of that stuff again. He didn't even know how he had gotten home.

Sitting up, he looked down in surprise as a blanket fell off of him. Blinking, he looked around, swaying a bit. It took him a minute to realize where he was. He had passed out in front of Leo's room. Snorting, he slowly stood up, leaning on the wall a bit to keep from falling over.

Glancing into Leo's room, he confirmed his suspicions of who put the blanket on him. Leo wasn't in his room, and the little digital clock showed the time to be only 6:45 am. Only Leo would get up so early.

Rubbing his head a bit, he turned and headed towards the kitchen, leaving the blanket crumbled behind him. Better to face Leo now than later.

Stepping into the living room, Raph looked around in surprise. The tv was on, Mikey was laid out on the couch, and Leo was nowhere to be seen.

Raph looked around and shrugged. He had passed the bathroom on the way here, and no one was in there. He turned and walked into the kitchen intent on getting something to eat.

* * *

Leo stood outside, in an abandoned alley. His brown coat was wrapped around his body tightly as he just stood there, watching the sky turn lighter.

Snow was falling thickly right now, but was mixed with little shards of ice.

Taking he deep breath, he sighed. He was back…but only for a few minutes. He wasn't sure whether it was smart to leave his brothers like that, but he had made so many mistakes that he really didn't care anymore.

Looking down at his feet, he saw that they were already turning a faint blue. Leo smirked. After all, he was a reptile and they were cold blooded.

Turning around, he slowly trudged on home.

* * *

(five days later)

It was midnight, but Leo didn't care. Another memory had woken him up. This time it was both depressing and bad.

But that wasn't important right now. Raph wasn't home, again. However, Leo didn't mind right now. He suspected that Raph was on something. The way he acted, the way he walked, the way he talked…something wasn't right.

Quietly, Leo slipped into Raph's room. Then, he quickly set out to search for whatever drug or alcohol his brother was taking.

And it didn't take long for him to find it. Raph had hid it under his bed. A small bottle, accompanied by two needles. The dust under the bed indicated though, that there was another bottle and another needle. But they both were gone.

Leo sighed, grabbing one bottle. Holding it closer, he tried to read the label, before realizing that it was too torn and faded to read anything.

Grabbing the bottle, he quickly rushed out of the room, and into the living room, where in the corner was Don's mini-lab. He had a bigger one in his room, though, where his smaller gadgets were. The bigger gadgets were made here in the mini-lab. But Leo wasn't searching for any gadget. He was searching for the computer.

Quickly finding it, he turned it on, still holding the bottle. He knew some things about drugs, but he needed to be _sure._

"It's what you think, child."

Leo didn't need to turn around to know who it was. He bit his lip and then sighed, leaning back in the chair. "I thought so, Ojii-san."

This time, however, he turned around.

The old man, whom he knew so well, was standing a bit farther from him.

"I found some cake crumbs…" Leo whispered. "I wondered…but I hoped not…"

The old man nodded, not smiling. "I had to. I have been giving it to him for one and a half weeks now. It is my job. After all, I am _Death._"

Leo nodded. "When is he…scheduled to die?" He choked on the last part.

Death smiled this time, but it was a sad smile. "It is very ironic, you know. He will _not_ die from a drug overdose. He will die because he will freeze."

Leo froze at that. "When?" He asked, more desperately.

Death sighed. "You have five hours. Starting now."

With that, he started to fade away, when Leo quickly called out to him. "Wait! Where is he?"

Death sighed, becoming a little clearer. "I cannot tell you. I already have done more than my share." Then, he started to fade again, but then paused a bit to call out, "Good luck child."

Leo watched him fade, before heaving a heavy sigh. "Why can't everything be all right?" Then, he jumped up and rushed to grab his coat. Death said that it was cold where his brother was. Which meant that he was outside…

"Leo?"

Leo jumped at the sudden voice. Whirling around, he saw Mikey standing in the doorway of the living room, looking tired and sleepy. "Where ya off ta?"

Leo hesitated for a second before grabbing a second coat and tossing it to Mikey, who caught it in surprise.

"Put it on. We're going to get Raph."

That got Mikey awake. "Why? He do somethin' stupid again?"

Leo didn't answer only jerked open the door. "We barely have five hours."

Mikey trotted after Leo, coming up close behind his brother. "Why?" He asked urgently, feeling a sense of foreboding.

Leo bit his lip as he quickly started climbing a ladder to get out of the sewers. "Listen." He started. "Raph's on drugs. He's been taking heroin each night for weeks now. I don't really know how long. Thing is, he's been going outside to take them—"

Leo paused as he jumped out of the manhole and helped Mikey out of it. Then, they quickly climbed onto a roof and began to run across it.

"—and then coming home to pass out."

Mikey's eyes widened as he picked up his pace. "So…"

"And just tonight Ojii-san…I mean, Death…came to visit me. Raph's scheduled to die tonight. That's why we have less than five hours."

Mikey gulped, his eyes showing fear. Leo pitied him right then. But he had to know. He couldn't carry Raph home by himself…

Leo took another breath as he jumped a gap between buildings, his eyes scanning the areas. "—And Ojii-san told me that he _won't_ die of a drug dose, but of freezing out here."

Mikey nodded as he automatically picked up his pace.

They continued running for a long time, pausing every now and then to check the areas. So far, Raph was nowhere in sight.

Leo growled as he saw a neon sign showing the time. They had less than two hours.

"Mikey…call Don and tell him _everything._ Do you here? And tell him to get his first aid kit pronto, and to be ready for anything."

Mikey nodded as he whipped out his shell cell and rapidly began to dial the numbers.

Leo walked away a bit, trying to catch his breath while scanning the nearby buildings. Nothing. Behind him, he could hear Mikey muttering "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" as he impatiently waited for Don to pick it up. Finally, Leo heard a click and then Don's voice speaking. But Mikey didn't even give him time to finish what he was saying, because he had already launched into a rather hurried and brief explanation of why they were out here.

Leo looked down into a neighboring alley. He knew this place. He used to come here a lot.

Then he looked up. There. An abandoned building. It was too high up to see the top, but Leo sensed a familiar presence. A presence that was fading fast.

Leo didn't even bother to say anything to Mikey. He just jumped up across the alley and landed on a neighboring building before jumping onto the fire escape ladder on the old building. Behind him he heard Mikey hurriedly telling Don that he had to go, but Leo wasn't focused on that.

When he finally reached the roof, he jumped over the edge, landing softly onto the snow. He spotted Raph immediately.

Raph was lying a bit farther from him, passed out. Beside him was a needle and small bottle. The contents of the bottle were half gone.

Leo heard Mikey land behind him, before he gasped. "Is he…?"

Leo shook his head, seeing Raph's chest rising. Striding over quickly, he knelt beside his younger brother, before checking his pulse.

"His pulse is weak. We need to get him home _now._"

Mikey nodded, before coming down and grabbing Raph's left arm, hoisting it over his neck. Leo did the same. Then, they carefully stood up, dragging Raph with them.

Raph's head lolled a bit, before falling forward.

Leo glanced at him for a second, before both he and Mikey began to drag him home.

* * *

_"Hey."_

_Leo turned around to see a young teen standing behind him. He was very pale, and looked cold, despite the fact that he was dressed warmly. _

_Leo nodded towards him. "Hey." Then, he scooted over a little in the snow, making room for the teen to sit. Leo didn't bother hiding himself. _

_The teen plopped down beside Leo, before stretching his legs. Leo noticed that one leg was swollen and purple._

"_Nasty weather we're havin'." _

_Leo nodded before looking up at the sky. "And it looks like that it isn't over."_

_The teen nodded before offering him something. Leo took it and popped it into his mouth, and began to chew it, grimacing a bit at the sour taste. _

"_Tell me, Jack, why did you run away again?"_

_The teen shrugged. "Same old reason, same old reason."_

_Leo nodded before looking up at the clouds again. The wind was howling and the snow was starting to fall again. _

_The teen, Jack, spat out some of the stuff he was chewing. "You know, yesterday, I heard this song. I think it's called "Hallelujah", and it's by this guy named Rufus Wainwright. God. That was the worst song ever!"_

_Leo shrugged. "I think it was okay. A little weird, but okay."_

_Jake raised an eyebrow before spitting again. "So ya know it, huh? Well, anyways, there was this one line I really liked. And it was: 'love is not a victory march…it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah…'"_

_Leo nodded. "Yeah. I know what you mean…"_

* * *

Leo shook his head to get rid of the memory. The streets right now, seemed much more kinder than this.

Absentmindedly he watched Mikey flip through the channels as fast as he could, trying to find something to watch. Don was busy tending to Raph, trying to get him to wake up.

Leo sighed. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Raph groaned as he groggily opened his eyes. He was tired, but strangely warm. How weird. Last time he checked, he was still outside…

He started to sit up, looking around as he did so. His head felt very heavy and his vision was blurry. But he was able to make out that he was in his bed in his room.

'Strange.' He thought. 'I don't remember coming home…' But then again, he didn't remember coming home on any other night…

Rubbing his eyes, he opened his eyes again before yawning. Right now, he didn't care how he got home. He was tired.

And without a second thought, he curled up in his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Leo sighed as he watched the dark silhouette of the tv. He had long ago sent his brothers to bed. It had been a long day and they needed their rest.

The silence was enough to unnerve him though. Sitting there, in the dark, in silence, made him pretty unnerved. Sometimes he found himself wondering if he was still outside. But then he'd make out the silhouette of a familiar thing, like a tv or a couch, and then he'd remember.

He closed his eyes as he lay down onto the couch. "We all live…We all die…" He sang almost inaudibly, from Evanescence's 'Bleed, I Must Be Dreaming' track.

"…I must be dreaming…"

* * *

"Hey! You're awake!"

Raph blinked in surprise as Don suddenly hugged him. "God! We were so worried about you! You were completely passed out from that heroin you took! And you were half-frozen! Lucky, really, that Leo and Mikey found you just in time…"

Raph blinked as he sat up in bed, his head wasn't heavy anymore, and he wasn't so groggy. "Wait…what? You guys know--?"

Don drew back, looking angry. "Yes! We know! God Raph! What were you thinking!"

Raph was about to reply, when the door burst open and Mikey hopped in, looking happy and hyper. "Yay! You're awake! Wow! You had us really worried for a long time! Man am I happy you're okay! You were completely passed out when we found you!—"

But Raph wasn't really listening; instead, he focused on Leo, who stood behind Mikey, his face completely blank of all emotions.

Their eyes met for a moment, before Leo broke the contact as he strode swiftly towards him.

Both Don and Mikey fell silent as Leo passed them.

Raph watched, a bit confused as Leo neared, getting himself prepared for some sort of lecture, but was completely unprepared for what happened next.

Leo stopped by the bed, and in a swift movement, raised his hand and slapped Raph swiftly across the face.

Raph yelped in surprise, before raising a hand to clutch his now stinging cheek. "What the hell ya do that for!" He snapped, glaring at Leo.

Leo's eyes flashed. "What the hell were _you _thinking, Raphael?" He thundered, looking angrier than he had ever in his whole life. "Drugs? _Drugs?_ Are you insane? Drugs don't do a thing for you! They just make your whole life worse!—"

"And?" Raph snapped. "How the bloody hell would you know? You don't know a thing! You're just a fuckin'—"

Leo ignored the insults. He had already snapped.

Raph shut his mouth and everyone went quiet at the next thing that Leo said. He had said it so quietly that they barely heard. But the effect was tremendous.

"I know because I tried them all."

Don blinked. "What?—"

Leo didn't even let him finish the sentence. He was already far too gone. "I know because I tried them all. Every single one in existence. From Hallucinogens to Opioids to Depressants. All of them. And let me tell you. They don't do a _thing._ Sure…" Leo continued, switching to a sarcastic tone. "They make you forget everything for a few hours or so, but then you wake up and everything just wells up in you, choking you. They don't take away the pain." Leo whispered. "They make it worse."

Raph shook his head, trying to absorb the new information, which was so unlike anything Leo would do. "No…you're lying…I mean c'mon! You're so goddamn _perfect—_"

Leo raised his head to look at him. "Out there, on the streets, life isn't glamorous. I spent time searching for food in _garbage cans._ And if I was lucky, I'd find a piece of bread not completely _rotten._ And then there was the weather. I couldn't go anywhere to sleep, because _there **was**_ no place to sleep! I was damn lucky I found a torn up old cardboard box to sleep on!" Leo paused for a few seconds before looking around at his brothers. Then he sighed, looking down at the floor again. They were blaming themselves again. He could tell.

He did the only thing he could think of. He threw up his hands. "I give up."

All three of his brothers were immediately taken aback with surprise.

Leo didn't look at them. "I give up." He repeated, smiling sadly. "I am so goddamn tired of seeing you guys blaming each other and then yourselves for all of this. I tried. Goddamn it! I did what I could. I tried to talk you guys through this, I tried to show you, I tried every goddamn thing I could think off, and god! Am I tired!"

With that, he turned around and marched out of the room, heading towards the door.

"Leo?"

Leo heard Mikey behind him, he heard his brothers running after him, but he ignored them. He had had it. He couldn't stay where his brothers would rather look at last week's trash than him.

Grabbing his coat, he jerked open the door. "Once you guys decide to move on, you'll know where to find me. I will always be near."

With that, he stepped outside and was gone.

* * *

"Never said a word of discontentment…Fought it a thousand times but now…I'm leaving home…Here in the shadows…I'm safe…I'm free… I've nowhere else to go but…I cannot stay where I don't belong…."

'Exodus' by Evanescence. Amazing how lyrics could fit your current situation. Absolutely amazing.

Leo strode down the street at a brisk pace. He was out here again.

Automatically, he turned down the dark and small alley, before stopping in front of his 'home'. He looked down at the cardboard box before squeezing his eyes shut, fighting the tears.

"It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah…"

* * *

Shock. That was all they felt. It was one thing to try and accept your brother's actions which were so unlike him, but it was a whole 'nother thing to try and accept the fact that you caused it.

Mikey just stared at the door, which was still open. "Did that just happen?"

Raph numbly nodded, feeling guilt well up in him like it did so many times.

"We are so stupid."

Raph and Mikey turned to look at Don. Don was staring at the ground, his hands in tight fists.

"We are so _stupid._"

Mikey and Raph looked at each other in faint surprise. Mikey looked back at Don. "Wha—"

Don interrupted as if he hadn't heard Mikey. "We spent too much time thinking about how _we_ messed up that we didn't realize Leo falling apart on us."

"What do ya mean?"

Don, for the first time, looked up at them. "Didn't you notice? Leo hasn't been eating, he hasn't been sleeping. He just wanders around the Lair at night, checking up on us before finally passing out on the couch. He barely eats. He's been steadily loosing weight since he got home. And if my assumptions are right, Leo's starting to become ill as well."

Raph listened, feeling guilt gnaw at his guts. He waited, because he knew there was more.

Don took a breath and continued. "I'm not sure, but Leo looks a bit sick. He seems to be in a sort of daze…"

Another pause.

"But…you know, sometimes I think that he is actually worse off now than he was before. Yeah, he's got good food and a roof above his head, but whenever he tries to talk to us we either ignore him or just say 'yeah, whatever' and look everywhere but at him because we just can't handle looking at him and seeing that we messed up."

Raph and Mikey were silent. Don was right, after all. They were too focused on their own failures to see Leo fall apart.

"And worst of all, we all sort of ignored him. I was always busy with my inventions, Mikey with his comics, and then you, Raph, had to go out and do drugs. You almost _died_ Raph! If Death hadn't come and warned Leo, then you'd be dead!"

Raph snapped his head up at that. "Dead?"

Mikey nodded. "Yeah. Death came and told Leo that you'd die."

"But I didn't take _that_ much!"

Mikey shook his head, looking grim. "No, but you would've frozen to death."

Raph fell silent. The true horror of the situation finally settled onto him.

Don sighed. "Yeah. We were all really worried. Leo especially. But that doesn't matter right now. The fact is that we were too absorbed with the past to see the present. In other words, we messed up and we need to set things right again."

Mikey suddenly grinned. "Let's go get Leo!"

Don nodded. "And apologize. Hopefully he'll forgive us."

Mikey scoffed. "We're talking about Leo here! He'll always forgive us!"

Raph, who was silent all through this, now spoke up. "But how do we find him? I mean, I'd doubt that he'd be in the same place as last time, and the city is pretty damn big."

Don smiled at that. "I know. That is why I slipped a small tracking device into his coat pocket." He said, before pulling out a tracker. There was a small green dot slowly moving around the city towards the docks.

* * *

Leo couldn't take being near his 'home'. Too many memories, all bad. He needed a break. So he just walked past his 'home', going farther down the alley before crawling into an abandoned house and crawling through it's window to the next street. He knew these streets by heart.

So he just wandered down the streets and alleys, not really paying attention to where he was going, until he finally stopped and looked around. The docks. How strange. He had walked down to the other side of the city and to the docks of all places.

Leo sighed as he walked to the edge of the dock and looked down at the water. A pale version of him looked back from the cold seawater.

Leo sighed again before turning around and starting to walk again back to the alley not really paying attention to his surroundings.

He didn't see the truck heading towards him until it honked and started to screech to a halt.

* * *

They jumped on top of the roofs. It was a much faster and easier way than walking on the streets. Sure, pedestrians were not on the streets, but public transport was allowed to go now. So some time a lone car would speed down the streets. Sure, businesses were open, but many people took out sick days and such, feeling that the roads were still unsafe.

Raph winced as he remembered the first time he had discovered that Leo was gone. He was already packed up and ready to go. Don had already left, and Mikey was still asleep. But Leo was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Shadow. Of course, Raph had already suspected that Don would take Shadow. If anything, Shadow was closer to Don than he was to either Raph or Mikey. Strange really. Mikey was the animal person.

He had passed both Leo's room and the bathroom on his way to the door. But Leo wasn't in either of them. Nor the living room, nor the kitchen. And when he got to the door, he noticed that his coat was missing. Strange. Leo wouldn't just go out on a run without telling them. Then, a thought had occurred to him, which seemed unlikely. Maybe Leo just ran away.

Raph winced as he remembered how he had just dismissed that thought and thought Leo to be an idiot and a traitor. But when he had moved in to his friends' house and began to unpack, he had found a little blue cloth. A piece of Leo's bandanna. Raph had known then that Leo had ran away. But he somehow didn't care then. Instead, he scoffed at it and then threw it away. And he knew that the others had done the same. One look at it and they only saw anger. Then they threw it away.

Now he regretted it. And so did they.

* * *

Leo yelped in surprise as he saw the huge truck heading towards him. Without a second thought, he jumped back, but the truck as it tried to swerve, slid to the side. Leo jumped again but the truck's review mirror managed to hit him in the chest and Leo fell down, crashing onto the wooden dock before sliding a bit and crashing into the water.

"LEO!"

That was all Leo heard before passing out from the lack of oxygen and the wound on his head from crashing into the dock.

* * *

They just arrived when they saw the truck sliding, hitting Leo, and Leo falling into the water.

Mikey yelled Leo's name, but Leo never resurfaced.

Raph immediately took off his coat and jumped into the water after Leo.

The water was freezing and dark. Well, what should he really expect? It _was_ winter time and they did have some really nasty weather.

Opening his eyes, Raph scanned the water, trying to find Leo. Shivering, he swam a bit deeper, knowing that he had to get out of here fast, but unwilling to leave without Leo.

Suddenly, his left hand grazed something. Surprised, Raph yanked his hand back before looking at what he had touched. A piece of cloth. Looking closer, he made out the cloth to be blue.

His heart pounding, he grabbed the little strip again before starting to pull it towards him. There, he could make out the dark form of his brother. Grabbing him firmly, Raph kicked up towards the surface. After what seemed like an eternity, he burst up to the surface, dragging Leo up with him.

Shivering, he started to swim back towards the docks, when two pairs of green hands grabbed him and dragged both him and Leo back up to the docks.

Mikey sighed in relief. "Ya made it! Boy! And I was about ta go in afta ya!"

Raph raised an eyebrow as he shivered on the ground. Don threw his coat over him before throwing Raph's over Leo. "Ya don't think I could've done it?" Raph accused playfully.

Mikey grinned mischievously. "You? Doubt it. Ya too clumsy and stupid—"

Raph growled as he started to jump up to kill Mikey. Mikey let out a playful yell and jumped out of reach.

Don pushed Raph back down, while hitting Mikey upside the head. "Quit. This is no time. That driver was pretty hurt so I had to call the police. Now we'd better get out of here. Both you and Leo need to warm up before you guys catch a cold…"

At that moment, Raph sneezed. "Too late." Mikey remarked as he pulled Raph up and hoisted his arm around his neck. "Can ya carry Leo?"

Don nodded. "No prob."

* * *

Leo woke up feeling pretty groggy. Coughing a bit, he stared up at the ceiling trying to figure out how the hell he wound up under a roof after starting to drown in the sea.

"Awake, I see."

Leo smiled a little as he turned his head to the right, and noticing the old man sitting in the chair. "Ojii-san."

The old man smiled before nodding. "Life loves to throw you around, doesn't it child?"

Leo laughed a bit, before wincing at how weak and hoarse it sounded. "And it will."

The old man nodded again before sighing. "You must be wondering why I never gave you a little cake."

Leo nodded.

"Because you weren't to die."

Leo laughed a bit. "You seem to know a lot of things, don't you Ojii-san?"

He laughed as well. "I am not of this world, child. I am Death. It comes with the job to know when, where and who will die. But…I do not know everything. It would be impossible to do that. Life is such a fickle and interesting thing. It can surprise you all the time…"

Leo nodded before looking at him. "Will you do me another favor?"

"Depends on what that is."

"Will you say hello to Master Splinter? Oh, and tell him that I think we'll be fine…"

Death smiled. "I think I can do that…Now sleep child. Sleep."

* * *

The next time Leo woke up, he was feeling much better. Slowly, he sat up, before looking around. He finally concluded that he was in his room.

Suddenly, the door opened. Leo braced himself, waiting for what would happen next…

"LEO!" There was an orange blur, before Leo was hugged by an overly hyper Mikey.

"Hey…" Leo said with some difficulty, feeling the air being squeezed out of him. "Mike..."

"MIKEY! Let him go! I don't think he can breathe!"

Leo let out a thankful sigh in relief as he felt Don literally pry Mikey off of him. Don looked at him. "You okay?"

Leo nodded, taking big, deep breaths, trying to replace his oxygen supply. Once he calmed down, he looked at them a bit confused. "How--?"

Don interrupted. "How you got back here?"

Leo nodded.

Don sighed. "Basically we figured out that we've been selfish idiots—"

Leo opened his mouth to protest, but Don interrupted him again.

"No Leo, I'm serious. We were. I mean, we were way too preoccupied with our faults to realize you falling apart on us…And we're sorry."

Leo smiled for the first time in what seemed like ages. "It's okay. Really. Deaths are hard to get over with…"

"But what we did wasn't damn right."

Leo looked towards the door in surprise. Raph was standing there, looking a bit pale, but otherwise quite fine.

Raph grinned at him. "You okay bro? You been out for a week."

Leo looked at them in surprise. "A week? Really?"

Don shrugged. "You were pretty sick…plus the hits you took pretty much knocked you unconscious."

Mikey looked at Leo for a second, before finally mustering up enough courage to ask what he had wanted to know for some time now. "Leo…Did you really do drugs?"

Leo looked away, looking sad. "What you must understand is that out there, the life is tough. But it's bearable. However, the pain inside isn't. You know how many times I would just stand outside you guys' windows waiting to see if you guys noticed? And after a while it hurts. It hurts to know no one cared. It hurt. Sometimes I even wondered if I died, would you have cared? And after a while, I just wanted the pain to go away. I was willing to do anything to make it go away." Leo sighed a bit, fingering the blanket still covering him. "But drugs only made it all worse. They took it away for a few hours, but then the pain returned, doubling each time…"

There was a long silence after that, then Raph spoke up. "But where did you get all those drugs?"

Leo shrugged. "Here and there. I made a lot of friends out on the streets. But mostly I got them from Jake."

"Who?"

Leo chuckled a bit. "Jake. He was about the same age as me, and his father and mother both did a whole bunch of drugs. They were also abusive so he kept on running away. I met him a couple of times and then we got to be friends. He also did all kinds of drugs and one time he offered some to me. And well…I accepted."

"And what happened to him?" Don asked this time.

Leo looked sad again. "The same thing that happened to all my friends."

"Which was?" But they all suspected the answer.

Leo sighed. "The weather was too cold and cruel. They all died."

"I'm sorry." Don whispered, looking pityingly at Leo.

Leo shrugged. "At least they are in a better place…"

Then, Leo looked back up at them, this time a slight fear flickering across his face. "But you guys aren't going to start blaming yourselves again, are you?"

There was an awkward silence before Don spoke up. "We probably will, but we will try to talk it out or something. Self-blaming is a bad habit, I admit. And it doesn't go away so easily. But we'll work on it. I promise Leo."

Leo smiled a bit as his brothers nodded at what Don said.

"But, Leo…" Don started, "Are you addicted to any of them?"

Leo smirked a bit. "I said I _tried _them. After they didn't work, I quit each of them. No. I'm not addicted."

"Whew…" Don said. "It's bad enough trying to get Raph to stop heroin…"

Leo raised an eyebrow at Raph who cowered a bit. "You're addicted?"

Raph shrugged, trying to seem cool about it. "Just a bit. I didn't take so much…Just a needle…or two…"

Leo sighed. "We definitely have some work to do…but…"

All of them waited for Leo to finish.

"Can we go back up to the mountains? You know, to where we buried Splinter?"

Raph, Don, and Mikey all exchanged looks. "Sure." Don said. "But why?"

Leo shrugged. "I never really got the time to mourn or say goodbye…"

* * *

Everything was covered with snow. But, even though the clouds were still there, it wasn't snowing for once.

Leo sighed in relief as he knelt in front of the small wooden cross they had made. He was alone, this time. His brothers had felt that he could use that. They were waiting by the truck a bit farther away.

Leo looked at the cross. "Master Splinter…" He started, although he didn't really know how to continue. "I'm sorry. Sorry for how everything turned out. I couldn't hold them together and let us fall apart—"

"But you pulled us back together again."

Leo jumped at the voice behind him. Looking behind him, he saw Don standing a bit farther from him.

Don shrugged apologetically. "I figured you'd blame yourself for this. So I decided to say what Master Splinter couldn't. _It wasn't your fault._ We all messed up, but in the end, it worked out, didn't it? And that is what matters. It doesn't matter how you start something, but it matters how it ends."

Leo smiled a bit as he stood up. "Yeah. I guess so."

Don grinned as he started to walk away. "Now, let's go home."

Leo turned and started to go after Don, but looked back once. He grinned at what he saw. "Yeah. I think we'll be fine."

* * *

"Interesting. He saw us."

Splinter chuckled a bit. "Well, Leonardo has always been more in tune with the Spiritual World. I would have been surprised if he had _not _seen us."

Death chuckled as well. "Yes, I suppose so."

Splinter leaned a bit onto his staff as he watched his sons slowly board the Battle Shell. Leo had turned back and waved a bit at him, earning weird looks from his brothers. But he had just laughed and waved them off, saying that it was nothing.

Death chuckled a bit at the scene. "I think they will be fine."

Splinter huffed. "They are my sons. I _know_ they will be fine."

Death laughed at that.

Splinter looked at him. "I thank you for taking care of my eldest."

Death smiled. "Nothing to it. He is a good child."

"All of them are."

Death nodded. "Yes. They are." Then he turned towards Splinter. "Are you ready to move on?"

Splinter took one last look at his sons, before nodding. "Yes. I suppose I am."

_The End._

* * *

Wow! THAT WAS ONE _LONG_ PIECE! 24 pages in Microsoft Word! COOL! Anyways, please Read and Review.

Hope you all liked it!

(hope you liked it too, Leo Oneal. And I swear I'll write later…after my Japanese class is done, which is in about five more days…good luck with your move!)


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